1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water treatment apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Water supplied by the water mains, simply termed “tap water”, often contains large quantities of dissolved substances that reduce its quality, accordingly making it scarcely suitable for domestic use.
This is true both when using the water to wash clothes and, most importantly, when the water is used for drinking, not to mention the fact that a high concentration of salts dissolved in the water produces limescale deposits in the piping, in the faucets and in the water circuits of many electrical household appliances (washing machines, irons, et cetera).
It is not uncommon to find, in mains water, traces of heavy metals and chlorine: the hardness of the water is very often higher than the optimum values and sometimes, mainly in large cities, there is a high concentration of polluting salts, such as nitrates, silicates and phosphates.
For all these reasons, very often home users prefer to equip themselves with water purifiers, which are used to restore the values of hardness, pH et cetera of the tap water to optimum levels.
The most effective and currently most widely used method for treating and demineralizing tap water is certainly the use of a reverse-osmosis apparatus.
A reverse-osmosis purifier is a device essentially constituted by one or more semipermeable membrane filters and one or more prefilters (of the mechanical and/or activated-carbon type).
The purifier, connected to the home water mains, is capable of producing water that is almost entirely free from dissolved substances.
The pressurized tap water is first passed through the prefilters; the activated-carbon filter in practice acts as a dechlorinating agent; the mechanical filter, which can be installed before or after the activated carbon, is substantially constituted by a cartridge of wound cotton thread and is designed to retain the larger impurities (up to 5 microns) that might end up in the semipermeable membrane and block it (for example the particles of the activated carbon itself).
The prefiltered water is then conveyed, usually propelled by a pump, into the osmotic-membrane filters, which eliminate 80 to 98% of all other substances (salts, ions of heavy metals, organic compounds, but also any pesticides, bacteria, et cetera).
In output there are two types of water: the demineralized water, known as permeate, which is meant for users, and the waste water, termed concentrate, which is rich in extracted substances and can instead be eliminated.
The quality and quantity of water produced is determined by various factors, first of all by the size and type of membrane.
There are mainly two types of membrane: CTA (cellulose acetate) membranes, which are cheaper but short-lived because they can be attacked easily by the bacteria that settle especially during periods of inactivity, and TFC (Thin Film Composite) (aromatic polyamide) membranes, which are slightly more expensive but absolutely more reliable.
In conventional systems, the various components of the purifier (membrane filters, prefilters, pump, et cetera) consist of independent modules that are mutually connected by means of pipes, elbows, unions, et cetera.
The presence of these last parts entails drawbacks, the main of which is linked to the leaks that can occur at the joints of the piping.
Another drawback of conventional purifiers is that they are bulky.
The aim of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that overcomes the drawbacks of the cited prior art.
An object of the invention is to provide a water treatment apparatus in which the various components of the apparatus are mutually connected without using pipes, conduits, et cetera, minimizing the risk of leaks.
A further object of the invention is to provide a water purifier that is modular, miniaturized, extremely compact and not bulky.
A further object of the invention is to provide a purifier that integrates multiple functions simultaneously (carbonation, refrigeration, syruping).